Haemochromatosis (pancreatic manifestations)

Pancreatic manifestations of haemochromatosis typically occur with primary haemochromatosis, as the organ is usually spared in the secondary form of the disease.

Pathology

Iron deposition can occur in the pancreas with primary hemochromatosis. Pancreatic involvement is uncommon in patients without liver cirrhosis. Most cirrhotic patients with primary hemochromatosis have pancreatic iron deposition and may have type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Dual sequences MR imaging (gradient in and out phase) demonstrates decreased signal intensity in the iron loaded tissues on the in-phase images compared with the out-phase images (opposite of what you would see with microscopic fat deposit as in hepatic steatosis). This occurs because the echo time of the in-phase sequence is usually higher than that of the out-phase sequence; therefore, the in-phase pulse sequence is more sensitive to iron deposits because of the increased T2* effect 2.